The contract called for improvements to the busy intersection of Clearview Parkway and West Esplanade Avenue. The job was designed by AIMS Group Inc. of Metairie, which underestimated some of the materials needed for the work, said Mark Drewes, the parish's engineering director. Hard Rock Construction Inc. of Metairie won the construction contract for $3.4 million.

But with the construction all but finished, the administration asked the council to pay Hard Rock an extra $345,202. Drewes attributed $143,645 of the boost to additional materials needed to complete the job. He said AIMS' low estimates were discovered before Hard Rock won the contract and that the money would have been needed regardless of AIMS' error.

He defended AIMS' work, saying, "The entire set of plans was a competent set of plans."

The rest of the price increase was blamed on conditions discovered in the field, which required work beyond the scope of the original contract, Drewes said.

The council approved the change order with no opposition and no suggestion of sanctioning AIMS, a regular contributor to local political campaigns.

The Federal Highway Administration is paying 80 percent of the construction costs, Jefferson Parish the rest.